Evaluation of potential habitat with an integrated analysis of a spatial conservation strategy for David’s deer, Elaphurus davidians

How to assess the potential habitat integrating landscape dynamics and population research, and how to reintroduce animals to potential habitats in environments highly human disturbed are still questions to be answered in conservation biology. According to behavioral research on Elaphurus davidians, we have developed a suitability index and a risk index to evaluate the potential habitats for the deer. With these indices, we conducted two transect assessments to evaluate the gradient change of the target region. Then, taking rivers as border lines, we tabulated the forest areas, high grassland area and total area and then compared the forest and high grassland area in each subregion. Furthermore, we computed the land use transfer matrix for the whole Yancheng coast during 1987–2000. We also computed human modified index (HMI) in six subregions. Lastly with a geographical information system support we obtained the spatial distribution of the indices and evaluation of the whole potential habitats from a neighborhood analysis. The transect assessment showed that the suitability of the coastal area was higher than that of the inland area for the deer, while the southern area was higher than the northern. Landscape metrics and HMI analysis showed that different landscape patterns and different anthropogenic disturbance existed within the region, and the increasing human disturbance was the key factor causing the pattern dynamics. The evaluation of potential habitats showed that there was an estimated carrying capacity of no more than 10,000 for David’s deer reintroduction into the natural area. Also the reintroduction strategy was discussed. This integrated approach linked the population research and the landscape metrics, and the dataset with different scale; thus, it is an approach likely to be useful for the protection of other large animal in a landscape highly disturbed by humans

Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury—Repair and Regeneration

BACKGROUND: Traumatic spinal cord injuries (SCI) have devastating consequences for the physical, financial, and psychosocial well-being of patients and their caregivers. Expediently delivering interventions during the early postinjury period can have a tremendous impact on long-term functional recovery. PATHOPHYSIOLOGY: This is largely due to the unique pathophysiology of SCI where the initial traumatic insult (primary injury) is followed by a progressive secondary injury cascade characterized by ischemia, proapoptotic signaling, and peripheral inflammatory cell infiltration. Over the subsequent hours, release of proinflammatory cytokines and cytotoxic debris (DNA, ATP, reactive oxygen species) cyclically adds to the harsh postinjury microenvironment. As the lesions mature into the chronic phase, regeneration is severely impeded by the development of an astroglial-fibrous scar surrounding coalesced cystic cavities. Addressing these challenges forms the basis of current and upcoming treatments for SCI. MANAGEMENT: This paper discusses the evidence-based management of a patient with SCI while emphasizing the importance of early definitive care. Key neuroprotective therapies are summarized including surgical decompression, methylprednisolone, and blood pressure augmentation. We then review exciting neuroprotective interventions on the cusp of translation such as Riluzole, Minocycline, magnesium, therapeutic hypothermia, and CSF drainage. We also explore the most promising neuroregenerative strategies in trial today including Cethrin™, anti-NOGO antibody, cell-based approaches, and bioengineered biomaterials. Each section provides a working knowledge of the key preclinical and patient trials relevant to clinicians while highlighting the pathophysiologic rationale for the therapies. CONCLUSION: We conclude with our perspectives on the future of treatment and research in this rapidly evolving field

Étude comparative des statuts du conjoint survivant et du cohabitant légal survivant au niveau successoral

Master [120] en droit, Université catholique de Louvain, 201

Hyaluronan-methylcellulose Hydrogels for Cell and Drug Delivery to the Injured Central Nervous System

Spinal cord injury and stroke are two devastating neurological events that lack effective clinical treatments. Recent neuroregenerative approaches involving the delivery of cells or drugs to the injured tissue have shown promise, but face critical challenges to clinical translation. Herein, hyaluronan-methylcellulose (HAMC) hydrogels were investigated as a versatile means of overcoming the challenges facing central nervous system cell and drug delivery. HAMC was shown to support the viability of encapsulated human umbilical tissue-derived cells, demonstrating utility as a scaffold for therapeutic cell delivery to the injured spinal cord. In a drug delivery context, release of the neuroregenerative drug cyclosporin A from the hydrogel was tunable over 2-28 days and the drug diffused to the stem cell niche in the brain and persisted for up to 24 days at a stable concentration when the HAMC-based system was implanted epi-cortically. HAMC is thus a promising tool for emerging neuroregenerative therapies.MAS

Teacher Experiences with Flipped Classrooms in Secondary Science

Flipped classrooms have become increasingly popular in recent years, outpacing scholarly research regarding their effects. As such, I investigated how two secondary-level science teachers perceive their flipped classrooms, uncovering the ways in which they implement their flipped models along with their views on advantages and drawbacks of the approach. A central finding was that the both participants did not repurpose class time for higher-level collaborative learning tasks, a frequently reported justification for using the technique. Despite this, the participants reported that they value the increased student-teacher interaction, the self- paced nature of the direct instruction, and the enhanced opportunities to meet individual student needs that flipped classrooms provide. These advantages were tempered with concerns about equity, teacher workload, and curriculum suitability. Overall, flipped classrooms hold considerable potential for improving student learning in science and beyond

CURRENT STATUS, STRUCTURE, AND PLANT SPECIES COMPOSITION OF THE RIPARIAN VEGETATION OF THE TRUCKEE RIVER, CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA

Volume: 45Start Page: 17End Page: 3

Ethics and poetics : the architectural vision of Saint Francis of Assisi

Contrary to the view of many interpreters that Francis of Assisi (1181--1226) dabbled in church renovation for a few years following his first conversion experience in 1205, architecture remained a central preoccupation until his death in 1226. His creative practice ranged from hermitage planning to the clothing design of its occupants, from architectural legislation to the composition of psalms to be sung in the hermitage churches. Through the medieval art of memory, Francis formed his architectural intentions around two contemplative foci: first, the symbol of the tau, which became his attire, prayer position, signature, talisman for healing the sick and the crucifixion of Christ imprinted on his flesh in the stigmata; and second, the chapel of the Portiuncula, which Francis renovated himself to be the cave of the annunciation and the nativity, the womb of Mary and a portion of heaven on earth where angels descended. With its hedge-bound monastery. it became the prototype for construction among his followers. As the art of memory aimed at an ethics, so did his architecture strive to inspire communal good through narratives of compassion, voluntary penance and humility.The Portiuncula was copied throughout the Franciscan order, but as the order grew its commitment to poverty waned. As a result, buildings began to deviate from Francis' ideals. Rather than resort to prescriptive architectural legislation, Francis addressed this dilemma through an intricately choreographed performance of his death whose poetic image would be unforgettable for those who wished to imitate him in word, deed and architecture. Two years after this event the Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi, built by his friend and hand-chosen successor, Br. Elias, rapidly rose to house the newly canonized saint. Its earliest form, narrative and symbolism, also widely imitated, seems to illustrate aptly Francis' architectural vision: if the Portiuncula was the Bethlehem of the order, the Basilica's tau plan became its Jerusalem. From these two prototypes Italian mendicant architecture for the next century drew its meaning and form